1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information processing apparatus and method, a computer program thereof, and a recording medium, in particular to information processing apparatus and method, a computer program thereof, and a recording medium, which do not place a burden to a user, but acquire a degree of expectation, a degree of concentration, and a degree of satisfaction with respect to a program, so as to measure an audience quality with higher efficiency.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, in addition to a conventional audience rate, the audience quality showing how a TV program is watched by viewers is introduced as a measure of evaluation of a TV program. Examples of audience quality investigation may be Research Q (see http://www.rq-tv.com/) carried out jointly by TV Asahi and Keio University, a viewer's satisfaction degree survey FASS (Fuji Television Audience Satisfaction Survey) conducted by Fuji Television Network, Inc. etc. However, both integration methods measure audience qualities based on a questionnaire conducted to a viewer after watching, and so need considerable time and labor. Then, a method of finding audience quality of a watched program is proposed by using an algorithm which finds the audience quality by approximation (for example, see Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2003-111106).
In prior art techniques, a user's operation history is analyzed by a program selection support apparatus. When a particular program is watched for a certain period of time, a dialog into which the user inputs an evaluation of the program is displayed. Based on the user's evaluation inputted into the dialog, user's interest (audience quality) in the program is measured.
According to an invention disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2003-111106, based on vital reactions (skin dielectric constant, skin temperature, pulse) acquired through a sensor worn by a viewer, a degree of concentration (audience quality) with respect to a program being watched by the viewer is measured.
However, according to prior art techniques, the viewer has to input the evaluation into the dialog. As a result, there is an inconvenience in that a burden is placed on the viewer.
Furthermore, according to prior art techniques, although it is possible to acquire a degree of satisfaction, which is an evaluation value after watching the program, among items which constitute the audience quality, there is a problem that a degree of expectation which is an evaluation value before watching the program, or a degree of concentration which is an evaluation value during watching the program, cannot be measured.
Further, according to the technology disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2003-111106, the viewer has to wear the sensor every time and this may constitute a cumbersome operation for the user. Furthermore, according to the technology disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2003-111106, although it is possible to acquire the degree of concentration, which is the evaluation value during watching the program, among the items which constitute the audience quality, there may be a problem in that the degree of expectation which is the evaluation value before watching the program, or the degree of satisfaction which is the evaluation value after watching the program, cannot be measured.